Yukina and Shimo:A Bittersweet Tale
by Rurouni Idoru
Summary: Rated just in case. Yukina decides to return home for a while, after finally truly finding her brother. While everyone's worried about her dissappearance, she finds a disturbing surprise back at the frozen continent...
1. Notes and Worries

Notes and Worries   
by the Rurouni Idoru

There was a note on the table. She had called all of the others, told them to come to her house, and started warbling incoherently. All because there was a note on the table. Yusuke leaned over and seized it. He then flipped it over, inspecting it, as if there would be a map drawn on the back. 

"So she just up and left?" Yusuke put the note down, and Bara nodded hysterically. "I see why you'd be upset, but you act like you're gonna die or something. She just went home, that's all..." 

"Just went home? Just went home?!" Bara positioned herself about three inches from Yusuke's face, and gripped his arms tightly. "Hiei's gonna KILL ME!" 

"Hiei?! Hiei's not the problem!" Bara wheeled around to see the face of Kuwabara. He looked partially as if he were ready to pound a full-grown cow into chop meat, and partially as if he were about to cry and never ever stop. He grabbed Bara roughly by the shoulders, and managed to lift her up off of the ground by an inch or two. He started to shake her rapidly. "We finally had her! She was comfortable! She liked it! She liked ME! I was just gonna finally ask her out on a real date with dinner and movies and everything! AND YOU LET HER GO!" Bara's slow reflexes kicked in then, and her leg shot up into Kuwabara's knee, causing him to reel in pain and drop her. 

"What do you mean, 'let her go?!' I wanted to have her here as much as you did! Besides, what are you gonna do to me? You can't hurt me, I'm a girl. It's Hiei I'm worried about. I'm gonna die a terrible death...chopped into little peices, and hidden under floorboards...then they'll find me and make a made-for-TV movie about it, all messed up and not close to the truth..." Kurama sighed as Bara trailed off. 

"I suppose I can tell him. He's less likely to kill someone he's known for this long." He looked up with a wry smile. "We should just be glad Hiei doesn't have a phone, or else Bara would've called and said something she'd regret by now." Bara laughed nervously, placing her right hand on the back of her neck. 

"Yeah, but it's not like he's got anything to plug it into. His current address is, 'Tree in front of Teara's house.' And I can't see him with a cell phone." Yusuke turned back to Bara. 

"Speaking of that little Chinese otter, you call her?" Bara nodded. 

"I did, but she wasn't home." She laughed softly in irony. "If she knew, Hiei'd probably be tracking me down right now. And I'd be bleeding slowly to death..." Of course, by now I'm sure you, the reader, know who left. But why? And where from? Well, lucky you, this is the set-up chapter. Always start at the beginning. So I suppose that's what we should do. 

Teara, Bara's best friend (who had taken quite a liking to Hiei) had allowed Hiei to stay in her home for a while, but her mother would not hear of that. Thus, Hiei was staying in a tree while Teara's mother was in the country. Yukina, however, had shown a slight interest in attending school for a while. After clever reasoning on smooth-talker Bara's part, Hiei decided she'd be best off staying with Bara. The reason he decicded to trust the girl who could, at times, irritate him more than Kuwabara? Because, to quote Bara, "Genkai's ain't walking distance from Sarayashiki, you don't want her near Teara's insane mother, Yusuke's got too many family problems himself, much less having to help her deal with hers, Kurama doesn't have the room in his house, I KNOW you don't want her staying with Kuwabara, and I doubt you'll want her to climb up and share that tree with you." Then, Bara decided to sing loudly and off-key until he finally conceded to let Yukina stay with her, and Bara then proceeded to dance about, joyously crying,"Free air conditioning!" It had been a short while since Yukina had truly found out about Hiei. It had become fairly apparent that he was the brother she had been looking for. 

It had never really occured to anyone that Yukina would finally go back to where she lived after finding her brother. She was starting to just meld into the group. She was becoming a part of the picture. It suddenly felt as if she had always been there, and always would be. No one had quite remembered that she was only in the Ningenkai to search for her brother. No one remembered that she was allowed to search for her brother, and only that. Of course, surely no one would mind if she stayed in ningenkai for as long as she wanted, but she did not know that. She did not realize how welcome she was. And when a polite guest thinks they have overstayed their welcome, they don't stay long. And it was apparent that she had thought that she had overstayed her welcome. How was this apparent? 

Because there was a note on the table. A very simple note. And what did the note say?   


_ Goodbye, and thank you.  
-Yukina _


	2. Goodbyes and ThankYous

Goodbyes and Thank-Yous

by the Rurouni Idoru

Bwa, stupid I forgot the disclaimer last time. This stands for the entire fic: I don't own YYH, or anything related to that. I do however, own Bara, Rikka, Kousetsu, Shimo, various other new koorime, and my best friend owns Teara. (Used with permission. Ish.) If I DID own it, then this would've actually happened. Let's think here.

Yukina snuck slowly into the alley. In one hand, she held a small laundry bag, presumably holding her new clothes, and some other little "souvenirs" she'd gotten from ningenkai. Some of them were gifts from special occasions. Some of them were just things that fascinated her to the point that whoever it belonged to had said, "If you want it, here." But most important to her, tucked between a white stuffed bear, and an aquamarine dress, was a photo of her and her friends. Kazuma was a bit blurry, because he had moved his head just as that bright light came. Hiei was halfway in a sigh. Bara was trying to pose like a fashion model and keep Yusuke's fingers away from her head at the same time. Shizuru was yelling at Kazuma to hold still. Keiko was batting Yusuke in the shoulder. Yusuke was grinning like a 7-year-old boy. Kurama was smiling halfheartedly, as if to say, "It's times like these that make me wish I had never met these people." Genkai just sort of frowned near the bottom of the picture, with a Look-at-What-I-Have-to-Put-Up-With kind of look. Yukina herself was smiling, but still a little stunned. That light, after all, was so bright and sudden, and it took her by surprise. Overall, it wasn't what most people would consider a good picture, but Yukina found it beautiful, because it captured her friends' personalities so well. She made sure at least seven times that she had it with her before leaving. And now she stood at a portal in some dark alley. The portal led to a snowy mountaintop in makai. While it wasn't quite an afternoon stroll, it would be a better place than most to start her journey back to the frozen continent.

"I'll come back and visit," she promised the air, as if saying it to the breeze would carry it along to her friends. "I'll see if you can come stay there for a while, oniisan...Maybe they'll even let you live there. And perhaps you could bring Teara. I swear I'll come back and see you all again. I might even stay for longer next time. But I have to leave." She readjusted the laundry bag so that it hung on her shoulder like a purse or a tote bag. She started to climb into the small hole in space. "Goodbye..." And with that, she was gone from ningenkai once more.

"What do you mean, 'Goodbye and thank you?!' She just left, no proper goodbyes? That idiot oaf didn't trip over his own feet chasing her until he got buried in a snow bank?!" Kuwabara protested, but it went unheard. The speaker's attention was now on Bara. "You didn't whine and cry to her about how much you'd miss her?! That's persuaded the DEAD not to leave, I'm sure of it!" Bara protested that she wasn't that bad, but the rant continued without her permission. "Yusuke didn't even attempt to quote-unquote 'smooth-talk' her out of it?!" Yusuke let out an insulted "Hey," but it was in vain. "You! Kurama! You can convince any girl to do anything besides leave you alone! How did you all screw this up?!" It was a room of insulted fighters that bore witness to Hiei's hysterical shouting. "You just let my sister get away without a word?!" A vein throbbed in Bara's head. Teara sat in the corner, holding her forehead with her finger and thumb, shaking her head hopelessly.

"We didn't LET her get away!" Bara's head sunk and her shoulders rose as she spoke through clenched teeth. "I woke up, and she was gone! I went to go get an effen Pop Tart when I found the note, for cryin' in the beer!"

"Obviously, she left because she didn't wanna be around YOU anymore, shrimpo," Kuwabara huffed indignantly. Teara twitched a bit. Being about Yukina's height, she took derogatory statements toward Hiei's stature personally as well.

"I doubt that," Hiei said flatly. "I don't know how I ever let you talk me into confirming Yukina's suspicions..."  
"Easy, Bara convinced you that you should, 'cause that guy you promised you wouldn't tell is in a band now," Yusuke piped up.

"What?! I never said that!"

"Yeah you did! You said that promises made by one Jaganshi weren't important in Nirvana or Van Halen or..." Teara's ears perked up at the mention of Nirvana. Bara smacked herself on the forehead.

" I said Nirvana or VALHALLA, stupid. Not Van Halen! Nirvana and Valhalla are two different forms of heaven, from different religions. Pay attention, you might learn something." Teara sunk again upon realizing that Bara was talking about heaven and not music, as she tended to do. Hiei's eyebrow twitched.

"WHAT ABOUT YUKINA?!"

"Oh yeah," Bara and Yusuke chorused. Kurama sighed.

"You two are cut from the same cloth for certain." Bara grinned and flashed a peace sign, while Yusuke responded, "Tch,"and grinned a bit. Teara, finally having had all she could take, let loose a fairly loud "AAAH!" and stood up.

"Think, people. She's come back the last six times, right?" Kuwabara was quick to point out that it was only two or three. Teara was quick to point out, "Shut up." Bara nodded.

"My dear Chinese friend has a point there. She'll come back." Bara seemed completely unworried about the situation, dismissing it like Hiei was worried about Yukina staying at a friend's house for the weekend.

"And if she doesn't?" Hiei inquired dangerously.

"Then we assume she got to safely, and she's happy there." Bara grinned, as if there could be no possible errors in her plan.

"What if she's not? What if she's spilling her blood all over some freshly fallen snow, barely holding her insides in?! She'll be dead in an hour! And then--"  
"THEN YOU GO GET HER!" Bara cried, slightly tugging at her hair. She went up the stairs, and Hiei started after her, before a soft male voice made him stop in his tracks.

"Hiei, it's not her fault. Don't go stalking poor Bara. She doesn't know how to handle herself half the time, much less Yukina." Hiei sighed angrily, then sat down on one of the living room chairs. Kurama could really calm a person down. It was probably that all-too-sweet voice of his. Yusuke looked at his feet for a moment, then glanced up at Hiei again.

"If it makes you feel any better, she makes me want to kill her all the time, and I don't even HAVE a sister." Hiei blinked.

"That doesn't even make any--"

"I know," Yusuke interrupted. "I can't make much sense anymore. Those girls've warped my brain permanently. Now I can't even curse right." Teara protested, but Yusuke silenced that quickly, by assuring her that, "You don't count. You're special." Teara giggled a bit, and grinned widely. Obviously, being special was plenty enough for her.

"But what about Yukiiiiinaaaaa!" The entire room seemed to turn to look at Kuwabara. He looked as if he were in pain, and he certainly sounded like he was when he said Yukina's name. "We can't even go follow her to see if she's okay! Shorty's right, what if she's hurt?" Everyone's eyes turned to blinking dots, and their mouths to tiny circles, some hanging open.

"Did you just say..." Yusuke started.

"...That Hiei was..." Kurama continued.

"RIGHT?!" Teara shouted in shock. Kuwabara nodded.

"She might get captured again, and then what? We'll never know if she's alive or happy or..."

"Or injured, or starving..." The shock value in the room rose to level thirty-four. Hiei and Kuwabara...were working together? Teara passed out, then and there. "You know, this is also partially your fault." The working together stopped.

"WHAT?! Why would I want to let my dear, sweet Yukina-san get away from me without even saying goodbye?"

"I'm not saying you would, it's just that you weren't paying much attention to 'your dear, sweet Yukina-san,'" Hiei glared.

"You weren't paying attention either, shortstack!"

"I live in a TREE! I can't really keep watch on the goings on at Bara's house from there! The Jagan doesn't see around street corners!"

"You're just jealous 'cause she likes me better than you!"

"How many times must I tell you before you understand?! She's my sis--"

"I don't wanna hear it, shorty! Quit makin' excuses!"

"Your very existence offends me! You are an embarassment to nature, the human race, and all of their observers!"

"...You and your big words!"  
"How old are you?"

"How old are _you_, midget-boy?"

"Stop insulting my height for ten minutes out of your life!"

"You're just jealous!"

"Why, because you are a freak of nature?"

"I am NOT!" Yusuke and Kurama tried to intervene, but were shot down quickly, and dragged into the argument. They quickly stopped talking to each other as Bara came downstairs for a snack. Teara, who had been kicked awake earlier by Yusuke, was banging her head against the wall repeatedly. Bara sat on the couch, angrily munching Cheez-Its out of the box. Bara's mother came downstairs, holding an empty laundry basket. She glanced around at the stranger-than-usual scene.

"You know, Yukina hasn't been here since last night." Bara sighed and answered her mother.

"I know, that's why none of us are talking to each other." Bara's mother blinked once or twice, then shrugged and continued into the basement. Just another strange day, in Bara's mother's book.

Yukina hunched over in the windy snowstorm. When she tried to open her eyes, they were quickly filled with snow and dried by wind, so she closed her eyes again. She clutched her arms to her chest, not because she was cold. She wasn't. But the winds were very strong, and she didn't want to lose her bag. She had already been this way a few times, so she more or less knew where she was going. But that didn't make it fun. She continued walking forward, thoughts of her friends sustaining her.

"I can't wait until I can see Ginsekai, and Fubuki..." She trudged forward, talking quietly to herself. "...And Rikka, and Kousetsu..." She panted between names. "...And Reika, and Tsurara..." She pressed onward against a strong gust of wind. "And Samuke, and..." She stared outward. She was on the edge of a cliff. There were large birds flying around, birds big enough for Yukina to ride on. And there, above and beyond her, was a floating island made of ice and snow.

The frozen continent. Home.


	3. Arrivals and Confusions

Arrivals and Confusions

by the Rurouni Idoru

Yukina was gone, almost back to the frozen continent. The Reikai Tantei and their assorted companions were so worried they had began arguing and were now not talking to each other. Bara's mother was doing laundry. Perhaps it was no ordinary day, but it wasn't quite strange either. Hiei was letting out his frustrations by steadily glaring at an innocent wall. Indeed, if walls could talk, this one would be pleading that it hadn't done anything wrong. Kuwabara kept fidgeting, visibly nervous about Yukina's safety. Yusuke had whipped out a cigarette and lit up, very glad that Bara's mother was also a smoker. This meant that there were ashtrays all over for him. Kurama sighed regularly. Bara had calmed her frazzled nerves by performing a favorite pastime of hers: Making origami cranes out of candy wrappers. While it was difficult to fold a piece of soft, thin waxed paper into a bird, few of the room's occupants had ever seen it done so well before. In fact, few of them had ever seen it DONE before. Teara was still rhythmically banging her head against the wall. And what was Yukina doing?

Yukina was staring. There it was. The place she hadn't seen in so long. The frozen continent. Home. All that stood between it and her was about 120 yards of open air. She glanced downward to see large birds flying around. Finally, she caught sight of one that was familiar. She remembered back when she first left for Ningenkai. One of the elders had sighed, and said, "So be it," when Yukina said she wanted to search for her brother. That elder taught her a special whistle, and directed her to a particular bird. That bird, Yukina was told, recognized that special whistle, and would come when she heard it. She could ride the bird to and from the frozen continent instead of climbing up mountains. Little did she know back then just how often she would be doing that.

She took a deep breath, and began to whistle as loudly as she could. The different pitches made something of a song, but it only seemed to have half of a tune. Her eyebrows arched in half-fear, nervousness about what came next. What was it that came next? The bird flew near the cliff, and because of her weak, skinny bird legs, Yukina had to jump onto her back if she wanted to get on at all. She shivered slightly in fear that she would fall off of the edge and get killed, or even worse...

"This never gets any easier..." With that said, she started running, shrieked, and jumped as high and as far as she could. Her eyes were shut tightly, as if she felt that what she couldn't see couldn't hurt her. Her arms outstretched, she reached for a neck at best. She would settle for a wing, even tailfeathers. But she wanted to grab hold of the bird's neck. She heard strong, steady wings flapping below her as she started to fall, and then, with a small yelp concluding her scream, she felt herself land on the soft, warm, feathery body of the bird. One arm had managed to hook around the bird's neck, and she began panting. Only then did it dawn on her: For now, she was safe. Her breathing slowed to its normal pace, and she hugged the bird, stroking its smooth feathers. The bird let out a cry that sounded vaguely like Yukina's whistle, and then it began doing some sort of strange bird version of purring. She had gotten onto her vessel, now all she had to do was wait for it to take her where she needed to be. She knew what awaited her on that island. She just hoped she could survive it this time.

The problem with riding the large youkai bird was that one couldn't really will her where they wanted her to go. It was obvious that she recognized Yukina, and the whistle, and knew where Yukina wanted to be taken. She was an intelligent bird, after all. Not your ordinary sparrow who fails to see the danger of an approaching car on the road it's standing on. The thing was, she didn't really care. Yukina could do whatever she wanted, there was no way to control the bird's movement. And the bird had her own agenda. Not much of an agenda compared to those of humans and humanoid youkai, but for a bird, she was very busy. She was also fairly indecisive. She would fly for a while in one direction, then turn around and fly the other way. It was because of this that it took Yukina twenty more minutes to get to the frozen continent.

Finally, the bird landed on the edge of the island. Getting off was considerably easier than getting on, because now the bird could fold her legs underneath her and land on solid ground, and only support her own weight when she stood. Had she been standing with Yukina on her back, the added weight of Yukina's body would be very hard on the bird's weak legs, and she would not have been able to take off with the koorime on her back. Without Yukina, however, the bird was able to stand up and fly away. And after Yukina petted her head, and gave her a sincere "Thank you," that was exactly what the bird did. Now came the final obstacle in getting to the city, where she would find friends and familiar faces. She had to get onto the main land.

Now, it should be obvious that the koorime's only line of defense was not living on an island in the sky that was close to impossible to get to. They had fully prepared for the possibility of someone finding out the same method Yukina had used, or an attacker with wings. While most of the koorime were fragile and gentle, the kind that would never hurt anything else by choice, there was another breed that were not. Due to strange adaptations, a select few koorime, thousands of years ago, became excellent fighters who protected the island. Soon, their children began training others, and by one year, a final number was reached. These koorime were all strong, and had curious transparent blue hiruiseki. This was the result of selective breeding. They were the same race, but they branched out differently. Perhaps it would be made more readily understandable if a human analogy was used. While there are many caucasian people, for example, people of some descents seem to get painful, red sunburns frequently during the summer, while others simply become stylishly tanned. While essentially the same race, they do indeed have different characteristics. Just like the normal koorime and the warrior koorime. The warrior koorime are trained from birth, so they can become ever stronger. They also guard the borders of the cities, to make sure that no intruders with the intent of harming the koorime can get inside. However, action does not come frequently for these koorime, and so when they believe there is an intruder, they tend to become a bit overzealous.

"INTRUDER!" Yukina heard it pierce the cold air. She looked up in shock and confusion. Had they really seen her coming already? She didn't have much more time to think, of course, because soon the warriors were charging her. Dressed in semi-kimono, fighting gi, and other clothing one would not expect to see on someone the same race as kimono-clad Yukina, they came at her screaming. It was all she could do to dodge on time. She had quickly discovered that watching her friends spar, and actually fight, was helpful to getting into town alive. Just by watching them, her defenses had gotten far better.

"Stop! It's me!" She held up her arms in an attempt to guard all oncoming attacks. There was silence.

"Yukina...?" Yukina dropped her arms and looked at the formation of warriors around her. She instantly recognized the speaker's voice.

"Rikka-san!" The two rushed to embrace.

"It's been too long! Where've you been?" Rikka, as she was called, was certainly the most unique of the group. Her hair was cut into a downward point shape in the center of her forehead, then again just below her lip-level in two bangs that hung by her face, fanning out to point outward onto her cheeks. Then there were the long forelocks sitting on her shoulders and chest. And the rest of her hair fell smoothly down to the small of the back. She wore a garment that vaguely looked like a cross between a kimono and a tight, short dress. Slits went up the sides and right to where her hips began, pointy decorations made the lapels of the "kimono," Which revealed her neck and shoulders. The "obi," which was just different colors on the dress in the vague shape of an obi, consisted of a lovely sky blue, with a navy blue stripe inexplicably down the front. She wore short, tight pants under her dress in a royal blue. Her shoes were like those typical of a martial artist, and aquamarine. Even for a warrior koorime, who were different in themselves, she was different from anyone Yukina had ever known. And she loved that about her.

"I was in ningenkai."

"Again?" Another of the girls asked. Yukina rapidly nodded.

"I've finally found my brother!" Then, there was silence again. Rikka grinned.

"So...what was he like?" Rikka's smile and casual tone obscured the terror and shock that the warriors all felt. If there was one thing scarier than a male, it was a male fire youkai.

"He's wonderful!" Yukina exclaimed. "He promised to always protect me! At least, that's what Teara told me, but I know I can trust her, because she spends so much time with him." Some of the listeners' mouth fell open in horror. "Bara says he'd never say it to my face because he's afraid that'd make him look like Kazuma, and he doesn't like that for some reason. I don't see why, Kazuma's been very nice to me so far, and he's always so poilte and brave. Bara said that there should be attractive, intelligent men like him, and then she could go elope with one of them. I don't know what THAT meant, but Bara likes to talk about complete nonsense." At that point, almost all of the girls looked terrified. Even Rikka, who had been mischeviously curious about what males were like, looked apprehensive at the least.

"These women...WANT to spend time with men?" Yukina turned to the one who had spoken, and nodded.

"They have to. It's how they reproduce. Although some women like to spend more time with women, and some men with other men, but they don't reproduce. When I asked Hiei-san to explain that to me, he looked a little flustered and told me to go ask Teara and Bara. Bara says she hates spending time with men, but I think that's just because she's so much like Yusuke, and they're always arguing. I've seen Bara become very silly because of a male, and just because he called her pretty and danced with her. And not silly like she normally is, either. It was a new level of odd for Bara." Everyone, including herself, was amazed at how much Yukina had just said. She giggled and apologized. "I'm sorry if I'm talking too much. I think Bara might be rubbing off on me." The other koorime just stared.


	4. Friends and Aspirations

Friends and Aspirations

by the Rurouni Idoru

Bara and Yusuke pressed the buttons furiously. It didn't matter how hard they pressed, however, because the little people on the screen did not speed up at all. Bara began frantically jabbing at the buttons.

"No! I am the King of Fighters!" Yusuke took his eyes off of the screen for an instant to look at Bara.

"But you're a...Never mind." The two fighting on the television screen both fell to the ground. Bara threw down her controller.

"Argh! It's no good!" Everyone in the room stared at Bara's sudden outburst.

"Bara, it was a draw," Yusuke stated, confused. "It's not like I handed you your--" Bara abruptly cut him off.

"Not that!"

"...On a...plate..."

"This isn't working! The more I try to forget about it, the more I realize..." she sighed. "I realize that no one's offering me tea, or telling me that I shouldn't swear, or asking me how to use the microwave, or tryting to understand 'kaasan's soap operas." She looked down, and away from everyone else. "Yukina can really grow on a person."

"Too bad you lost her," Hiei said bitterly. His next action was, of course, to dodge the shoe Bara had thrown at him.

"It's not my effen fault." Bara seemed a little less eager to defend her honor than usual. "She just left. Which sucks." She began to twiddle her thumbs. Yusuke put his arm around Bara, in a rare caring moment. After all, when Bara said he was like a brother to her, he really couldn't deny that it worked the other way as well.

"Nobody's saying it's your fault. Well...nobody but Hiei...and Kuwabara...but they don't count anyway." Yusuke smiled confidently.

"And why don't I count, detective?" Hiei raised an eyebrow warily.

"Or me, Urameshi?!" Kuwabara bore down on Yusuke slightly. Yusuke suddenly sprouted a sweatdrop.

"Well, um...'cause, uh...'cause when Bara's depressed, it throws everybody off, and we don't need need any more...um...off-...throwing?"

"Wow, Yusuke," Bara said sarcastically. "You really know how to make a girl feel better." Yusuke stuck out his tongue.

"Well, anyhow, it's not your fault. Hiei and Kuwabara are just upset 'cause they miss Yukina, and soon they'll be back to their oh-so-pleasant selves, and then you can be as loud and annoying to them as you used to." Bara considered this for a moment, then smiled.

"Yusuke?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?" Her smile morphed into an annoyed frown as her fist flew swiftly up into his chin.

"You suck." Yusuke nodded to show his understanding.

Meanwhile, Yukina sneezed, and rubbed her nose. Rikka, who was escorting her to the city, turned to look at her.

"You alright?" Yukina nodded.

"I didn't really want to leave everyone, you know? I didn't want them to miss me. I suppose they're talking about my leaving." Rikka grinned.

"Seems you're good at making friends everywhere, Yukina-chan. Even the ningens love you." Yukina sort of blushed and smiled. "So, whatcha been up to, besides finding your brother and losing the ability to know when you've gone off-topic?" Yukina scratched the back of her neck in embarassment.

"Well, I've made a lot of friends...would you like to see them?" Yukina eagerly paused and slid the bag off of her shoulder.

"They're...um...in there?" Rikka pointed at the bag, and gently prodded it with her finger. Yukina giggled.

"No, I have a picture of all of us together." Rikka raised an eyebrow.

"Like...a drawing?"

"No, there's a ningen machine that can capture a moment in time and put it on paper! They also have things that record sound, and can also capture periods of time for later viewing. At first, it's sort of scary, but it's kind of enjoyable once you get used to it." Rikka blinked.

"So, you have one of these images with you?" Yukina nodded. With that, she pulled the photo out of her bag. Rikka stared at it in awe.

"So many males...right next to you." She slowly began grinning again, and looked up at Yukina. "I tell ya, you've seen more exictement in the past year than I'm probably gonna see for the rest of my life. I mean, how often is this island attacked, much less by males?" Yukina began putting the picture away, as she looked at Rikka, very interested. "You have a brother. That's something none of us can even hope for. I mean, I know the elders were always upset with me for this, but, I've always been curious about males. I've always wanted to meet one, always wanted to fight one, always wanted to know one. It'd be...novel, y'know?" Yukina smiled slightly.

"Can I tell you something?" Rikka nodded. "You have to promise not to tell but..." Yukina leaned forward as Rikka craned her head to present her ear to Yukina. "I want to see if I can bring Hiei here. You know, my brother." Rikka jumped backwards.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!?" The shout echoed across the snowy hills. Yukina covered her ears.

"Ssh! You'll cause an avalanche, or someone might hear you..."

"The elders'll SLAY you! How could you even THINK that--"

"But it's his birthplace! He has every right to be here! He's very nice if you stay on his good side--"

"Yeah, if you stay on his good side! How can we trust him? We don't know him, he's a male, and a FIRE YOUKAI at that!"

"He's every bit as much koorime as he is fire youkai."

" I hardly think he's an ice maiden."

"I meant he's one of us. It's not like he goes on killing rampages...unless he has to...but then that's because his opponents are evil! He may have a bit of a short temper, and he's not exactly gentle and caring, but he can be kind if you're kind to him! He's not bloodthirsty, not like he used to be..."

"Do you even HEAR what you're saying?!"

"I know it sounds bad but...he's my brother. And I love him. I think he turned out to be a good person, especially for someone who was so unwanted." Rikka paused to consider this.

"But either way, you know...he could be gentler than a baby bird, but the elders still won't let you bring him here. Not unless you can prove it, and to do that you'd have to show him to them. And you can't show him to them without bringing him here, and the cycle starts again. That's how they do things, Yukina. As soon as progress threatens their way of life, they make it so that there's no way to do what's best in the long run. They just can't stand to see anything change." Yukina looked downwards sadly, then brought her head up, a determined look in her eyes.

"I have to try. I owe it to Hiei." She turned her head to look at the distance, the cliff she had just come from, and even beyond. "He deserves to come here at least one more time." Rikka sighed.

"You're impossible, you know that?" Yukina smiled.

"Bara says that's one of my best qualities." Rikka shrugged her apprehensiveness off, and began grinning again.

"This Bara sounds interesting. What's she like? I wanna know everything. All of your new friends. Tell me all about them." Yukina nodded energetically.

"Alright, we'll start with Bara. Let's see, she's sort of hard to capture in words. She's very energetic, and emotional, and very very strange. She's sort of masculine sometimes, but then again, she's really feminine. She talks a lot, and she's proud of all of her flaws. Mostly she's lazy, but sometimes she can get really excited, and when she has to do something, she'll always do it. Provided it doesn't bore her too much, of course."

"Sounds like me, sort of."

"She's a lot like you, only even moreso! She was the one in the picture with the rims around her eyes. Her vision's not very good, so she has to wear those glasses to improve it. I never understood how it helps, and she says she doesn't either, but the thing is, she doesn't care. She doesn't care about a lot of things. But she cares about so much."

"She sounds like a walking contradiction."  
"She prefers driving to walking."


	5. Emptiness and News

Emptiness and News

by The Rurouni Idoru

"So...she went home?" Bara and her mother were finally the only ones left in the house, sitting at the kitchen table over some pizza. Bara took a drink from a copper-colored can of root beer and answered her mother without looking up.  
"Yep." Bara's mother sighed a little.  
"That's not bad, though, is it? I mean, if she gets home to her family...."  
"Friends, her only family's here," Bara corrected.  
"Alright, so she's going home to where she grew up. That's not so bad." Bara sighed.  
"But we can't be sure she'll get home safe." She lowered her head further, and brought it down to her right. "Hiei's worried sick. And so am I." Her mother only nodded.  
  
Yukina and Rikka had been walking together for some time. It took a little while longer than it should have because not only did they stop to rest, but Rikka got them lost somehow along the way.  
"Alrighty, I know what we're doing this time. Look, I can see the city!" Rikka pointed ahead. Yukina saw what she was pointing at. And her smile widened, becoming a broad, toothy grin. She giggled in sheer glee, and began to run. Rikka's mouth then formed itself into that michevious smirk she was so fond of. She began to chase after Yukina, kicking up snow along the way. "Get back here! Yukina-chan!"  
  
Hiei sighed in aggrivation. Teara looked at him strangely from her spot on the bed. He was on one of his favorite perches, Teara's windowsill.  
"You gonna sigh all day, or are you gonna go get her?"  
"You know very well I have no idea where she is."  
"Then quiet down! Or, you know...use words. Words are good. I like words."  
"Hn."  
"No! That's cheating! 'Hn' is not a word! It's two letters! I mean big words, like 'a' and 'the!'"  
"...But 'a' is only--"  
"Shh!" Teara, as usual, seemed to be taking it well. But then, she was the one to try and pretend like everything was alright when it was not. And if anyone knew that all was not right, it was the one who had Hiei sitting in her window.  
  
Rikka quickly caught up with Yukina. The warrior koorime playfully tackled Yukina, knocking giggles out of both of them. This, of course, sent them spiraling down the hill they were on top of, and into someone's yard. The woman who owned the house, who had been tending to some sculptures of ice, paused and smiled a bit.  
"Rikka, you know not to come barreling into my yard like that. However, it would seem that this time, you brought a friend." Yukina stood up, and brushed snow off of her kimono. Rikka followed suit, but instead of politely brushing the powder off, as Yukina had, she instead knocked it off roughly, and then gave herself the finishing touch by shaking her whole body, not unlike a wet dog. The girls both knew the woman. So Yukina wasted no time in shouting out the good news. She didn't even wait for the woman to acknowledge that she recognized her as Yukina.  
"I found my brother!" The older koorime stared for a moment, and then smiled wisely, causing small lines to form tiny "v"s at the corners of her eyes.  
"Well then, Yukina, perhaps you should go tell the others this exciting news, hmm?" Yukina smiled eagerly once more, nodded, and continued running, past the woman's house, and into the street. Rikka, again, followed closely.  
"Thank you!" Yukina called over her shoulder.  
  
Kuwabara gave another deep sigh. It had only been less than a day yet, and he already longed to have Yukina near him again. Oh, if only the power of love alone could bring her back.  
"Oh, Yukina-san, my love...."  
"How many times do you plan to say that in the next hour? Because I'm watching a movie, and I don't want you to ruin the good part." Yes, the ever-practical Shizuru, telling Kuwabara to shut up, as usual. "I understand that you miss her, but that's no excuse to say 'Yukina my love' wistfully every five minutes until the cows come home!"  
"But you don't get it! Your one true love has never gone away and there was nothing you could do about it, and no way to see if they were okay or bring them back...." Shizuru made a face, as she fingered her lighter in her pocket.  
"Are you kidding me?"  
"I know you think it's corny, but that's just 'cause you're too busy kickin' guys to date them, so you don't know about love like that!" Shizuru was speechless for a moment, stricken dumb by the words that had just poured out of her brother's mouth. She blinked a few times, mouth slightly open. She contemplated asking him something along the lines of, "are you high?" or possibly injuring him. She thought better of it, however, and sighed a little.  
"Look. Yukina's fine. Okay? I can tell." He just turned away disdainfully.  
"I've never seen your feelings and stuff extend all the way through Makai, so I don't know HOW you can sense she's fine. Obviously, you can't, 'cause you're a big mean liar and just want me to shut up so you can watch "When Sally Met Harry." She took another deep breath. Patience, of course, was not something she had in spades.  
"Look, maybe I can't say for sure that she's alright. As far as my actual sixth sense goes, I'm clueless on Yukina right now. I don't know absolutely that she's happy or sad or hopping on one foot. But there are some things even stronger than the sixth sense, and right now, one of those things is telling me that Yukina's alright. I don't know, call it woman's intuition." Kuwabara considered this, and finally seemed to accept it as valid.  
"I still say you just want me to shut up for your dumb movie, though."  
"Because I do. Now please do so."  
  
Rikka and Yukina came running into the street of tightly packed snow. The ruckus they made in the quiet city caused most of the other koorime to pause and look at them as they caught their breath. Yukina clutched her hands to her chest, breathing heavily, while Rikka doubled over, holding her knees to stay upright. Their cheeks both flushed a little while they smiled energetically. The more athletic of the two, Rikka, obviously caught her breath more quickly and bolted upright cheerily.  
"Yukina-chan has news! Big, big news!" Yukina nodded enthusiastically, and turned her head rapidly to look at the others around her.  
"It's my brother! I found him!" There was silence. One woman, with dark hair and a large belly stepped forward. She smiled engimatically at the two girls, looking part happy, part sarcastic, part angry, and even a little sad.  
"So, Yukina's finally found him?" Yukina's face brightened.  
"Kousetsu-san!" She rushed to embrace the older woman. "I found him, I really found him! Just like I told you I could!" She released her grip on Kousetsu and stepped backwards. "...You're having your baby? I didn't even realize you were almost at that age when I left! Congratulations, Kousetsu-san!" Kousetsu only smiled again, looking more sad this time.  
"Welcome home, Yukina-chan." 


	6. Decisions and Dishes

Decisions and Dishes

by the Rurouni Idoru

Yukina smiled at the sight of Kousetsu. Yukina had known Kousetsu since she was a tiny child. Kousetsu had always been kind. But Yukina found one thing strange: every time Yukina brought up the subject of her brother, Kousestu seemed to freeze up and change the subject. But then, most of the koorime wanted nothing to do with anything male, so it wasn't all that strange. But Kousetsu seemed especially unpleasant on the matter. At any rate, Yukina was glad to see her mentor again. She performed a koorime sign of affection, taking Kousestu's hand and placing it on her own chest. Kousetsu grinned sweetly, and did the same thing with Yukina's hand. Behind them, Rikka pouted.

"Oh, so you'll do the hand thingy to Kousetsu, but I'm chop liver." Yukina turned around and pointed at Rikka jokingly.

"Well, you attacked me, so that's just as good." Rikka placed her hand behind her head and laughed sheepishly.

"So you've found him, then?" Yukina turned back to Kousetsu and nodded.

"Rikka and I were thinking about asking if he could visit."

"What's all this 'Rikka and I' business? I told you, leave me outta this!"

"You want to bring a male here?" Yukina bit her lip.

"I'd like for him to see his birthplace. We were going to ask the elders about it."

"What is this 'we' crap?! YOU can go ask the elders, I'm fond of my head, thanks!" Kousetsu smiled, clearly ignoring Rikka's franticism.

"Are you going to stay with Rui again, or would you like to stay with me?" Yukina's face lit up.

"Really, Kou-san? I can stay with you?" Kousetsu nodded. Rikka waved her arms like windmills.

"Am I invisible back here?! I'm not going to the elders about any males of any kind!" Yukina was too busy embracing Kousetsu to notice.

A week and a half later, Yukina was cleaning Kousetsu's tiny house when a thought struck her.

"Kou-san, pardon me for saying, but aren't you too young to have a baby?"

"Well, Yukina...."

"I'm sorry if it seems rude, but I could have sworn you were only in your nineties. It's probably just because you're so youthful." Kousetsu paused for a moment in thought, and then ruffled Yukina's hair.

"You're a silly girl, Yukina." Yukina smiled energetically as she washed the dishes.

"Did you know that human women can have children at almost any time in their lives? There was once a woman in her seventies, which is about..." she paused to calculate, "Two hundred and fifty in our age, and SHE had a baby! Oh, well, they need males of course, but that's how they reproduce." She paused to dry a dish. "Human reproduction is fairly disturbing. I learned about it in one of my classes at school. Hiei-niisan was mortified. He didn't want me to know about such things until I was older." Yukina giggled. "Kazuma-san was shaken up about me learning, too. But then, Yusuke started saying dirty things and Kazuma-san wasn't sure whether to laugh or to attack him. Then Bara knocked their heads together and they were both quiet for a while." Kousetsu raised an eyebrow.

"Your friends are...strange." Yukina nodded. "So, have you gone to the elders yet?"

"About Hiei? No, not yet. I'm scared they'll get mad and banish me or something. Can they do that?" Kousetsu shrugged.

"Your mother brought him here, and they let her live. She was the one who...left, in a manner of speaking." Yukina gazed at the dishes below her. "I highly doubt they'll banish you just for suggesting it."

"I was thinking about going today, or sometime this week. If they say no, I think I'll go back."

"To Ningenkai?"

"Mm-hmm. But I won't go right away. I want to see your baby. I bet she'll be precious." Kousetsu put on that sad smile again. Yukina continued to wash the dishes. "I did a lot of dishes in Ningenkai. Bara and her family did a lot of eating, and they dirtied lots of dishes. I liked to do them, but Bara hated them. She was very glad whenever I offered to clean them for her." She paused again. "They used hot water. It was sort of nice." Kousetsu was silent. Yukina dried a plate.

At the end of the week, Yukina put on her best kimono and went to go see the elders. Kousetsu wished her luck, and Yukina responded that she would need it. She headed off to where the elders stayed, trembling. There was a young koorime sitting at a desk in the first room. Behind her was a large door.

"Yes?" The woman sweeped a lock of silvery hair behind her ear.

"I'm Yukina, I'd like to ask the elders a question about guests." The girl nodded and pointed at a bench on the other side of the room.

"The elders are discussing something right now, please sit over there until they're ready." Yukina wondered, as she sat down, if the girl liked her job. She was probably aspiring to be an elder herself when she reached that age. After all, she didn't do much. It wasn't like she was like the secretaries that important people had in Ningenkai or Reikai. They answered phone calls, typed up letters, made appointments, dealt with people who walked in unannounced, and they still had to get their own coffee. This koorime was just sitting there bored, perhaps deep in thought. Yukina thought of starting up a conversation, but recalled one of Bara's random nuggets of wisdom: If you annoy the secretary, you usually anger the boss, and angry bosses aren't pleasant to deal with. Yukina decided that she didn't want to annoy the secretary. She sighed a little bit, and tried to think of a way to stay awake. She finally kept herself busy by imagining the time Hiei would have if they allowed him to come. She would take him to meet her friends, and he could probably spar playfully with the warrior koorime. Of course, they'd have to visit their mother's grave as well, but the good had to come with the bad. She continued on this train of thought for an hour, when the large door opened. An elder stepped out of the door and asked the girl at the desk if there was anything left to do. The girl announced Yukina, and told her to go inside and ask the elders her question. Yukina found it hard to move. She could come face to face with younger Toguro and still look him in the eye without passing out, but the _elders_.... They were truly scary.

"Um, alright." She got up, trembling, and walked timidly inside the door. It shut with a loud _thunk_, which made Yukina jump. The elders were sitting around the room, in chairs and on cushions.

"What is your question, Yukina?" Yukina bit her lip.

"As you know, I was in Ningenkai until recently, searching for my brother. And you may have heard that, after nearly five years of searching for him, I have finally found him. Obviously, the point of looking for him was so that I could be with him. So I would like to ask for permission to bring him here to the floating continent." The elders still looked at her, as if they expected her to continue. She didn't know why, it wasn't as if she planned to laugh and shout "Gotcha!" Yukina looked around nervously, and confirmed her wishes by stating, "Th-that's all." How much longer did they want to see her squirm in this awkward silence? After what seemed like hours, one of the elders spoke.

"This is a difficult request. It will require much thought and deliberation. Please wait outside until we reach a decision." Yukina sighed, left the room, and sat on the bench again. As soon as she started to doze off, she began to think about the possibilities of her brother's visit again. If Hiei went, Teara would likely want to go, and Bara would want to come with Teara. Bara always said she despised cold weather unless it was right near Christmas, but she would temporarily forget this hatred and try to come on the journey anyway. Of course, five minutes into the voyage, she would probably start complaining that she couldn't feel her toes and wanted some hot coccoa. Once Yukina was out of thoughts like these, she began to think about the little things about her friends, to make sure not to forget them. How Yusuke would cut gym class so he could go smoke on the roof. How Bara came down for breakfast on the weekends wearing an extra-large T-shirt stating something funny, and the socks she had worn the previous day. The way Teara attacked people for insulting the mother, even though she frequently did it herself. How much Kazuma would blush when Yukina complimented him. Botan and her surprisingly short fuse. The way Shizuru held her cigarette. Keiko's way of caring for Yusuke. The way Kurama liked to act like the stable one, when he was fairly prone to breakdowns, courtesy of Bara. The eyes movements Hiei would make when Teara and Bara talked him into a corner. The layout of Bara's house, with the television as the focal point of the living room. Hiei's home in the tree outside of Teara's window. Yusuke's lucky socks, which he never wore. Kazuma's cat, Eikichi. Kurama's soft voice. It was these little shades of her friends that kept her more or less awake for about three hours, which is commendable. Thoughts of her friends, however, could only keep Yukina from nodding off for so long, and she yawned, leaned against the wall, and let herself drift off.

When she woke up, it was dark outside.

"Oh, dear," she whimpered. "How long have I been asleep?" The girl at the desk put down the book she was reading.

"About an hour, an hour an a half at most. Don't worry, they still haven't reached a decision, so you haven't missed much." Yukina sighed.

"I'm so worried they'll say no. I really, really want this." The desk girl smiled.

"Well, I'm sure the elders'll decide for the best, at any rate." Yukina didn't have the heart to tell her that she didn't want what the elders thought was best in any way. Suddenly, the door swung open, and Yukina jumped again.

"We have reached a decision." Yukina bit her lip and clasped her hands together. This was the same elder who taught her how to call the bird. Would she be more lenient in deciding, or did they send her out because Yukina liked her best? "After careful deliberation, and much rational thought, we have come to a conclusion. Bringing along your new friends from Ningenkai would be fine. However, your brother is male, and a fire youkai at that." Yukina's heart sank. "I regret to inform you that we must deny your request to bring him here." For a moment, the elder dropped her professional demeanor. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Yukina." Yukina smiled sadly.

"It's alright. I didn't think you would let him come anyway. It was a thought, that's all." She exited and began to walk to Kousetsu's house, feeling the eyes of the elder and the desk girl on her back. Each step in the deep snow was followed by a tiny yellowish pearl, and a small sniffle.

Meanwhile, somwhere in Japan, Ningenkai, there was a sink full of dirty dishes. Bara looked at them, put on an apron, and sighed.


	7. Secrets and Superstitions

Secrets and Superstitions  
by the Rurouni Idoru

Yukina heard Kousetsu stand up as she walked inside. For such an obviously pregnant woman, sitting and standing so quickly seemed fairly easy for her.

"Don't tell me...." Yukina didn't have to tell Kousetsu anything. Her hanging head and shuddering breath were signals enough. "They said no, hm?" Yukina simply lowered her head further, signifying a "yes." "Well, I suppose that's what's best." Finally, Yukina looked up.

"I don't want what's best! I want my brother to see his homeland! I just..." she collapsed onto a chair, "I just want him to be happy. He always seems so worried for my happiness, but I can't find the words to tell him that seeing _him_ smile would make _me_ smile. I...I don't know if he would understand that. He was a very lonely child and...." She began sniffling again. "You know what? Just between us, I don't care what the elders say. I still want to bring him here. He'd likely come of his own accord sometime anyway, why can't the other koorime know in advance?"

"He's a male, Yukina-chan. He's dangerous to our very way of life. What if koorime saw him, and started thinking that they should abandon the island to go find some male of their own to spend their lives with? The island would lose population rapidly. The koorime would eventually become extinct." Yukina saw a small flaw in Kousetsu's logic.

"How would we die out?" Kousetsu looked away, as if she were ashamed and disgusted for reasons that Yukina did not know.

"I've heard of women going insane and taking their own lives at a young age because their male lover had been killed. It could happen to desperate koorime. And besides that, all those genes mingling and mixing...There would be no telling if one's heritage could be traced back to this island. People would likely claim to be descended from koorime even if they were not. Many underhanded con artists would pawn off counterfeit hiruiseki. The name of koorime would eventually become tainted, and the term _koorime_ would become derogatory. I've studied enough history to see that that's where this train of thought leads." Yukina bit her lip.

"Rikka already wants to meet a male, even fight one. She told me so on the way over."

"Well, Rikka's always been a little less than normal, hasn't she? She also wanted to see flames as a child." Yukina looked away as a sarcastic thought raced through her mind: _Now, of course, Rikka's back to her healthy fear of anything that she's never seen before. _She paused for a moment, considering this thought. Her brother, her friends, everything she had encountered in ningenkai...it had changed her. She wasn't sure if it was for the better or the worse. Suddenly she found herself thinking cynically, attempting to break rules that were practically set in stone, and questioning everything she had once known. Her friends had told her about Sensui's descent into insanity. Yukina believed that she was strong enough to not let a change of perspective send her spiraling into madness as well. At the very least, she knew she wouldn't start branching out into different personalities who wanted to kill the koorime. She was a pacifist whenever possible.

"I just…He's family, Kousetsu. If you were in my position, you would understand. You've never encountered any males, you only know what you've been told." Kousetsu seemed to bolt upwards, as if some sort of current had just shot up her spine.

"Yukina, I think it's time I told you one of my own secrets. I'm only ninety-eight." Having spent so long in ningenkai, lying about one's age had become something a little less shocking to Yukina. But it took a moment for the reality of Kousetsu's age to sink in. She was having a baby…at ninety-eight? Koorime could only have children at the age of one hundred, unless….

"You've…been with a male?" Yukina was stunned. Of all the people who could have had affairs outside of the island, Kousetsu was the last person Yukina expected. "Then your child…is like Hiei and me?" Kousetsu turned her head in shame.

"I was on a supply run. You know how every month they select a few koorime to go down onto the mountains and meet with one of the farmers' messengers so we can have food that grows in warm weather?" Yukina nodded. She would even be a candidate for those supply runs soon. "There…there was an ice youkai with them this time. A male ice youkai. He gave me some drink; it was horrible. I felt terribly warm, and I was dizzy and I can't remember much of what I did, but I do remember the last part." She shuddered. "It was warmer than ever. It was disgusting. When I woke up in the morning, my head hurt, and parts of my kimono were scattered throughout the cave where we stayed. When I began feeling sick and getting hungrier than usual, I was sure it was he who had done that to me." Kousetsu got up and walked across the room. "What disgusted me the most," she turned her head to look at Yukina, "was how _good_ it felt. My logic was impaired. I didn't think anything could happen because he was an ice youkai too. And…I liked it. That horrible, evil experience, I enjoyed it." There was silence. Yukina finally found a question to ask, and the courage to ask it.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Kousetsu still avoided her eyes.

"They didn't suspect anything. They haven't been keeping tabs on my age either. You're the first one to bring up my youth. I don't want to go through a trial unless I have no other options. If I have a girl, we can write it off as a miracle in two years. If I have a male…." She didn't seem to want to finish the sentence.

"If they don't want him here, I could easily take him to ningenkai." Kousetsu said nothing. She did, however, suddenly squeal in pain. "Kou-san?!"

"It's happening! Now! Yukina, go get someone!" Yukina did as she was told. She came back with some healers to help with Kousetsu's delivery. The young koorime could only hope it would all turn out well. She was having enough problems as it was.

Four hours later, Kousetsu was still seated on the floor, her hair loose from its prim headband-ponytail and sticking to her sweaty forehead in loose strands. The birth was finally finished. Yukina was concerned about what came next. Three healers stood above Kousetsu holding the sleeping newborn. She could see a tuft of hair the same dark blue as Kousetsu's peeking out from under the blankets the child was wrapped in. They glared down at her simultaneously. The one cradling the baby in her arms drew in a deep breath.

"It's a boy, Kousetsu." Kousetsu hung her head in shame.

"I should have known it would turn out like this. You may set my trial for tomorrow."

"And what of the child?" another of the healers asked accusingly. Kousetsu's eyes seemed to deaden.

"We'll get rid of him after the trial." Yukina stood up in horror.

"No! You can't do that!" The four pairs of eyes suddenly shifted to her. The baby gurgled in his sleep.

"Why not, Yukina?" Kousetsu was handling the situation well, for a woman who had just given birth to a child she didn't want, had a trial date set for her, and knew her son was fated to die immediately.

"He's just a baby! What could he have possibly done to deserve death?" The third healer spoke up.

"Try 'existing,' Yukina." Kousetsu sighed. Her dear protégé was clearly shaken, and she wanted to help.

"Yukina, your brother survived, maybe he will too."

"No! It wasn't just coincidence, there were things that affected…." She continued talking, but they had stopped listening. Yukina could think of no possible way for the situation to worsen. She pressed her hands to her head in despair. The healers and Kousetsu paid her no mind.

"First, the child needs a name."

"…Shimo."


	8. Memories and Differences

Memories and Differences  
By the Rurouni Idoru

Yukina cuddled the small child in her arms. Kousetsu, his mother, had decided to name him Shimo, not that it would matter. Shimo...such a sweet name, for such a sweet baby. It was hard to believe that this child was the cause of such an uproar. Hard to believe that he was a "forbidden child." He certainly seemed like no threat, sleeping peacefully as he was. Yukina smiled at him.

"He's adorable," she cooed to Kousetsu, never taking her eyes off of his pudgy little face.

"Of course he is," the older koorime said coldly, "All newborns are. But he...he is a vile monster in disguise. He needs to be destroyed." Yukina looked up in sorrow. Obviously, there was none of the compassion in this woman that there was in her mother and Rui. There would be none of Kousetsu's hiruiseki to protect him from certain death. This child...Shimo...was going to die. An hour had passed since Kousetsu's trial. Yukina had no intention of watching a panel of koorime agreeing with the decision of killing an infant. "I have errands to run. And then, we'll rid the island of this abomination later." Kousetsu got up and walked to the door. "Watch him while I'm gone." And with that, she left. Yukina looked down sadly at the baby. He was stirring. He quietly yawned, and opened his eyes to look at Yukina for the first time. His big, clear, blue eyes stared up at her. She gasped in amazement. Such lovely eyes....

"Poor thing...." She found herself staring into those eyes. And that was when she found something amazing. She could see all of the males she'd grown close to! Right there in his eyes! She began recalling fond memories of them...

Bara had taken Yukina on a shopping trip, where they'd run into Yusuke. Yusuke was buying something Bara kept calling a water ice, and Bara quickly decided that she wanted one.

"Buy me one!" Bara demanded to Yusuke, as if it were her due for all the trouble she endlessly caused him.

"No!" he spat back. But Bara was prepared to throw a tantrum like that of a five year old, right there at the food court.

"But Yu-uu-uu-suke! I just wasted the last of my money on this adorable shirt I found, and no place I went shopping today gives out refunds, and I want one REALLY BAD!" If this was annoying to the other people in line, none of them knew Bara. Yusuke, however, recognized that this was but a warning sign of just how bad she could get. Sort of like how a skunk will give off certain signs to back off before it sprays you. Since he knew that Bara refused to let him win this battle, Yusuke sighed.

"Fine. But nothing expensive." Bara began dancing, and loudly debating with herself which flavor she wanted. Yusuke's deflated demeanor disappeared as he turned to Yukina, who was strangely confused. "You want one too?" He smiled at her. Yukina paused, then nodded.

"I suppose, if it's not any trouble." Yusuke smiled again, and turned back around to face the direction of the line. Yukina thought that it was so nice that Yusuke would offer to pay for her too, when she hadn't even asked. Maybe it was because he thought that if he was going to empty his wallet, why not go all out? But maybe it was just an act of kindness that couldn't be explained. Either way, Yukina was sure that Yusuke was certainly a good seed.

On another occasion, a lovely spring day, Yukina had been sent on a shopping trip to pick up some milk or something, she couldn't quite remember, and she had passed by Kurama's house. She saw him out front, trimming flowers from some bushes. He called out to her.

"Good morning, Yukina-san!" She turned to him and smiled.

"Good morning, Kurama-san! What are you doing there?" He turned to her fully, leaving his work behind him and a bunch of flowers in his hand.

"Trimming the flower bushes. Mother says the garden's getting out of control," he said, smiling. He turned around slightly to look at his unfinished handiwork. "I suppose she's right." He laughed a bit. "There's so many even I don't know what to do with them anymore. Mother's got all of her vases out, all over, and they're all stuffed with flowers...." He sighed. Yukina practically read his mind.

"It's a shame to see such lovely flowers go to waste like that, though." Kurama nodded. He suddenly seemed as if he were struck with an idea. He handed over the bunch of flowers to Yukina, and slightly shifted them around to make them shaped nicely like a bouquet.

"Here. You take them." Yukina was apprehensive at first.

"Are you sure, Kurama-san?" Kurama smiled yet again.

"Of course, I have nothing else to do with them. I'm sure you could find a nice place for them. Just...try not to tell Hiei about this? He'd be horribly angry with me." Yukina nodded and smiled in return.

"I'll try. Thank you." She decided that Kurama was certainly quite a gentleman if she had ever met one, and he would continue to be, at least as far as she was concerned.

And then there was the subject of Kazuma. He was always so kind and gentle to her, and treated her, not like a princess, not like a queen, but like a goddess on Earth. She remembered once, there was an event called a dance, although Yukina was sure that dance was something you did, not something you went to, and Kazuma asked her if she would go with him. Of course, she gladly accepted, and he was overjoyed. The night of that dance, her female friends, being as spontaneous as they were, decided to "fix her up." This, of course, confused Yukina, as she was sure she wasn't broken, but it turned out that they meant they wanted to give her new clothes and paint her face and make sculptures out of her hair. She didn't mind any of this, of course, and in the end she thought she looked quite nice, but there was one problem: the shoes. It wasn't that the heel was too high or too thin to walk in, it was that Yukina wasn't used to them. It took a few tries walking around the room before she could keep her balance and not trip over her puffy skirt. Granted, they didn't become comfortable, but they would work, Yukina supposed. It was when they got to the dance, of course, that the shoes became important. After Kazuma taught her the basics of dancing, which, she discovered, were fairly easy, she was soon dancing to every song. After about a half an hour, she began to look slightly pained.

"Are you okay?" Kazuma asked her. She sighed and smiled up at him.

"It's just these shoes," She said, sticking one foot out from under her billowing dress. "They're lovely, but they're starting to hurt my feet." Kazuma briefly considered this, and then asked her a question, looking very serious.

"Do you still wanna dance?" Yukina smiled brightly.

"Well of course! I'm having a wonderful time, it's really only the shoes that are the--" Before Yukina could utter another word, Kazuma had lifted her up and started dancing with her again.

"Now your feet won't have to hurt." She struggled for what to say. Finally, she smiled.

"Thank you, Kazuma." She decided that Kazuma was among the nicest creatures she had ever met, youkai, animal, or human, male or female.

Of course, Hiei was just as important as the rest, if not more so. Memories of her brother flooded Yukina's mind. When Tarukane captured her, Hiei came to her rescue, and then spared Tarukane simply because she had asked him to. When everyone was playing cards at the Ankoku Bujuustukai, and he just had to try his best to get along with them, and deal with the fact that human amusements were the only means of entertainment. When he left for the Makai, and gave her his teargem. The day she found out that Hiei was her long-lost brother. All those times he would try to protect her from everyone and everything, including Kazuma, although Yukina didn't understand why. Millions of little things. How he'd actually dish out the sweet snow for her, and forbid anyone else from touching it. The look he gave Kazuma when he picked her up so she could keep dancing, even with sore feet. How he would use words and sentences with her when only a "hn" seemed to be suitable for everyone else to hear from him. How it seemed that she could make him smile when everyone else made him want to kill. There was so much about Hiei that she was glad for. So many reasons why she was happy he'd survived that fall. And all of them were reflected in Shimo's clear blue eyes.

A startled Yukina was brought back to reality by a small coo from Shimo. There was nothing wrong with males...It was simply that they were unnecessary to the koorime. They weren't all dangerous. They weren't all bloodthirsty. They weren't all cruel. Of course, there were some evil males, but there were some women who were just as bad. If they were raised right...If, for even a moment, they had hope, happiness, love...they tended to turn out fine. It was the ones who were unloved, unwanted, unhappy, who turned out evil. They were the ones who became a threat to the koorime. And that was what they wanted to make Shimo, if he lived? They didn't understand, did they? They didn't realize that if he were raised properly, he wouldn't be a threat, but a valuable ally, especially if he was raised by the warrior koorime. It would take everyone a while to accept him, but after then, surely he'd be loved...right? Either way, Yukina wasn't going to just stand by and let him get killed. Shimo gave off a confused little gurgle, and suddenly, Yukina was moved to determined tears.

"You'll be alright. Yukina-san will make sure you're alright." Shimo giggled and caught one of the falling hiruiseki. He examined it curiously, as if looking for its face. Yukina wiped her eyes. That was when Kousetsu returned.

"Yukina?" she ventured, not stepping all the way inside. Yukina had her back to the door, and quickly wiped her eyes again. She swallowed hard, and replied with the only word that seemed to be able to fit out of her throat, which felt closed in failed determination not to cry.

"Yes?" Shimo dropped the hiruiseki into his own lap, and began to play with a lock of Yukina's hair.

"Bring the child outside. After I'm sentenced by the Elders, it will be time to get rid of it." Yukina rapidly turned around, making sure to be careful of the baby.

"You're going to throw Shimo off of the island now?" Kousetsu seemed unmoved.

"Not now, but soon. Say your goodbyes, Yukina." That said, she turned and left again. Yukina sat with Shimo, horrified. It was time? Already? She hadn't thought out a plan yet! She would just have to do the only thing left. Shimo stared up at her expectantly. Yukina looked down sadly at him.

"You can't cry, okay?" She picked him up so that they were at eye level with each other. She continued to speak as if what she told him would make any difference. "I know it's scary, but you have to be brave. It'll be over soon." She closed her eyes and held him close as he made a confused little noise. "I promise."


End file.
